Download Facts on Fiber

Facts on Fiber
Proven benefits of an increase in fiber intake include weight loss and the
prevention or need for treatment of diseases and conditions such as appendicitis,
breast cancer, candida, high cholesterol, colon and colorectal cancer,
constipation, coronary heart disease, diabetes, diverticular disease, gallstones,
hemorrhoids, hiatus hernia, hypertension and stroke, infection, irritable bowel
and/or gastrointestinal tolerance, prostate cancer, ulcers, varicose veins, and
others including menstruation problems.
WEIGHT-LOSS
 The greater your fiber consumption, the higher your caloric waste.
Fiber blocks the absorption of fat - and hence calories - in the
intestines.
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The water-holding properties of fiber make your gut contents
bulkier, and this distention of your stomach and small intestine
induces satiety.
 Another possibility is that fiber changes the pattern of hormone
release, thereby preventing low blood sugar, which contributes to
hunger signals.
 Studies on Fiber Intake and Weight Loss
 International Journal of Obesity, 1990. Dietary fiber has proved
beyond all doubt to be of value in the management of overweight,
in helping weight loss, and shrinking hunger feelings.
 Journal of Nutrition, 1990. Consumption of soluble fiber results in
smaller final body weight. This effect is related to the insulin
response of the dietary component.
 Appetite, 1986. Overweight people consume little more than half
the fiber recommended, contributing to failure of weight loss
programs.
 British Journal of Nutrition, 1984. Soluble fiber reduces hunger and
influences carbohydrate and lipid (fat) metabolism in a beneficial
way.
 Medical Aspects of Dietary Fiber, 1980. The greater your fiber
consumption, the higher your waste of calories. Energy output is
increased with the bulking action of dietary fiber. Summary: "One
thing is certain. The higher the percentage of fiber in your diet, the
lower the tape measure reading around your waist."
 DISEASES
 Appendicitis - Appendectomy patients are at greater than average
risk for certain cancers. It may be that the fiber-depleted diet
resulting in appendicitis is the same diet that sets the scene for
cancer.
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Gastroenterology, 1990. The increase in appendicitis is promoted
primarily by an associated fall in dietary fiber intake.
Cancer Research, 1990. A link between appendicitis and large
bowel cancer has been noted, and both are hypothesized to be
prevented by a high fiber diet.
Breast Cancer - The environmental factors, including diet, are now
believed to be the most significant cause of breast cancer, including
particularly high intake of certain polyunsaturated fatty acids and a
poor intake of antioxidants.
Journal of the National Cancer Institute, April 1991. We found that
by doubling the amount of fiber (in in the typical Western diet), you
can significantly reduce the amount of mammary cancer down to
the level of a low-fat diet. It shows that the fiber itself contains
substances which, when they get into the bloodstream, will inhibit
the formation of a mammary tumor. What seems to be happening is
that fiber, by some magical means that we don't understand, is
creating changes in the hormone system which protect against
breast cancer.
Medical Oncology and Tumor Pharmacotherapy, 1990. The
approach to breast cancer prevention should include an increase
in fiber consumption to 25 or 30 grams a day.
Nutrition and Cancer, 1990. Dietary fiber has the potential for
affecting breast cancer risk. Fiber may have a protective role
because of its influence on estrogen metabolism and excretion, or
because of the effects of good-buy lignans - a family of compounds
formed in the intestine from fiber-associated precursors.
Cancer Research, 1989. Fiber from grains consumed during early
teen-age years results in decreasing the chances of breast cancer
in both premenopausal and post-menopausal women.
Journal of Steroid Biochemistry, 1987. Fiber intake causes the
production of substances that protect against breast and prostate
cancer.
Candida - Yeast-like fungus which causes various infections.
Symptoms include headache, fatigue, depression, irritability,
digestive disorders, respiratory disorders, joint pains, skin rashes,
menstrual disorders, loss of sex drive, recurrent bladder and
vaginal infections, sensitivity to chemical odors and additives.
Journal of Family Practice, 1989. Even those women, whose
environment was conductive to producing candida, were able to be
candida-free with adequate fiber intake.
High Cholesterol - High fiber diets result in bile acid excretion,
reducing the amount returning to your liver. To compensate, your
liver produces more primary bile acids using the cholesterol in your
blood as part of the necessary new materials, thereby pruning your
cholesterol pool. If no additional cholesterol is manufactured, your
cholesterol levels decrease.
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Journal of Gerontology, 1991. Intake of fiber is inversely
associated with total cholesterol levels in older people. The effect
of dietary factors on cholesterol levels is not age-limited.
Journal of Atheroclerosis, 1990. Cholesterol levels are reduced in
those with high cholesterol by 9.6% with the intake of guar.
Journal of Nutrition, 1989. When guar gum is the source of dietary
fiber, dietary fats may not affect cholesterol levels.
Journal of the American Medical Association, 1988. A broad public
health approach to lowered cholesterol levels by additional dietary
modification, such as with soluble fiber, may be preferred to a
medically oriented campaign that focuses on drug therapy.
Colon and Colorectal Cancer - Low-fiber diets are associated
bowel cancer. Colon cancer is our second most common type of
cancer. The rates of colon cancer in various countries are inversely
associated with the consumption of fiber; the more fiber, the less
colon cancer. Fiber dilutes bacterial activity, thereby reducing the
cancer potential. Fiber can act very rapidly to slow down colon
cancer, even after initial signs have been diagnosed.
Southern Medical Journal, 1990. Increasing the intake of dietary
fiber greatly decreases mortality associated with colorectal
cancer.
Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 1990. Fiber-containing foods
are protective in colorectal cancer.
Reviews of Infectious Diseases, 1990. The levels of harmful
colonic bacterial enzymes are inhibited by dietary fibers.
Tidsskrift for den Norske Laegeforening, 1990. A low-fiber, high-fat
diet increases the risk of developing a colonic neoplasm (any
new, abnormal, uncontrolled growth).
Cancer Research, 1990. Fat has no affect on cancer development
when the fiber content of the diet is high.
American Journal of Epidemiology, 1989. Dietary fiber decreases
colon cancer risk.
Constipation - High-fiber foods provide moisture-retaining bulk so
that waste matter in your colon won't become dry and tightly
packed.
Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 1990. "The supplement of
dietary fiber reduces hunger and increases the frequency of
elimination."
Orthopedic Nursing, 1990. Patients who eat more fiber request
fewer laxatives.
Coronary heart disease - This condition, existing when arteries
supplying blood to your heart are narrowed by plaques
compounded from oxidized cholesterol, calcium, fats and proteins,
is our number-one killer.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1990. Dietary fiber lowers
blood fat and blood pressure.
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American Journal of Cardiology, 1987. Soluble fiber decreases
estimated risk for coronary heart disease by greater than 30%.
Diabetes - Fiber can reduce insulin requirements, improve
glycemic control, lower cholesterol and triglyceride valued, and
promote weight loss in diabetics. A high-fiber diet leads to
discontinuance of insulin therapy in about 60% of non-insulindependent diabetics, and significantly reduces doses in the other
40%. Many types of dietary fiber modulate glucose absorption.
Insulin resistance can be caused by a deficiency of biologically
active G.T.F. - chromium (glucose-tolerance factor). Chromium is
an essential trace mineral which is deficient in more than 95% of
Americans.
British Journal of Nutrition, 1990. Supplementation with soluble
fiber improves glucose tolerance.
American Journal of Nutrition, 1990. Dietary fiber improves
glucose metabolism.
Diverticular Disease - This is the development of small, blown-out,
or inflamed pouches in the wall of the colon. Complications may
occur with or without an acute attack. The role of high-fiber diets in
reducing bowel-wall pressure is primary.
British Journal of Clinical Practice, 1990. A high-fiber diet is
effective in the treatment of diverticular disease.
Primary Care Clinics in Office Practice, 1988. Diets low in fiber
predispose a patient to the development of diverticulosis, and
adding fiber to the diet is effective in prevention and treatment.
Clinical Gastroenterology, 1975. Early in their development,
diverticula, like other hernias, are reducible. Dietary fiber is the
antidote.
Gallstones - Stone-like masses that form in the gallbladder. The
more cholesterol in your bile, the greater the tendency for
gallstones to develop. Fiber increases the production of a
substance which helps keep bile cholesterol in solution.
Lipids, 1990. The highest incidence of gallstones is found in
animals receiving the lowest fiber diets. Gallstone incidence is
reduced by dietary fiber.
Hemorrhoids - Swollen anal cushions pushed down through the
anal canal, may times caused by constipation.
Acta Chirurgica Scandinavica, 1988. A high-fiber diet increases the
long-term cure rate among patients with third-degree hemorrhoids.
Hiatus Hernia - A condition in which the top of the stomach is
pushed upwards out of the abdomen and into the thoracic cavity,
and rare in traditional societies consuming high-fiber foods.
Lancet, 1985. A low-fiber diet increases the risk for hiatus hernia.
Hypertension and stroke - Persistently high pressure of blood
against arterial walls. Precursors are obesity, smoking, hyperactive
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personality, and stressful environments. Fiber helps to keep your
circulatory system unobstructed.
Nutrition Research, 1985. Three hundred health-food-shop
customers received an increases cereal fiber intake of 100 grams a
week. Reduction in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure
followed.
British Medical Journal, 1979. A group of 17 healthy volunteers was
asked to increase fiber intake modestly by making high-fiber
substitutions for low-fiber foods. Blood pressure dropped
significantly over a four-week period.
Infection - Invasion and multiplication of "unfriendly"
microorganisms, most often in body tissues made susceptible to
disease, and lacking adequate resistance to the invasion. Fiber
supplementation helps to keep insulin levels stabilized, helping to
prevent secondary problems during any infectious period. This
facilitates the healing process.
Irritable Bowel and/or Gastrointestinal Tolerance - Bowel
irregularity and/or diarrhea, gaseous distention and abdominal pain;
occur particularly in diets lacking in fiber. The classic low-residue
diet formerly recommended for irritable bowel syndrome has been
replaced with a high-fiber diet.
Prostate Cancer - Prostate cancer is the most common cancer
diagnosed in American men and is the second leading cause of
cancer mortality. Diet is a primary cause of cancer.
Cancer, 1989. Increasing consumption of beans, lentils and peas,
tomatoes, raisins, dates, and other dried fruit are all associated with
significantly decreased prostate cancer among Seventh Day
Adventist men. These are all high-fiber foods.
International Journal of Epidemiology, 1988. Population groups with
diets high in fiber have a low incidence of cancer, including cancer
of the prostate.
Journal of Steroid Biochemistry, 1987. Fiber intake protects against
prostate cancer.
Ulcers - A defect or excavation of the surface of an organ or tissue.
Most commonly refers to a peptic ulcer of the inner wall lining of the
stomach, or of the duodenum. We do know that ulcers can be the
product of poor diet.
Gut, 1990. There is an association between duodenal ulceration
and low-fiber intake.
Surgery, Gynecology, and Obstetrics, 1987. During a 30-hour
treatment period, test animals fed guar gum showed a lower
number of ulcers than controls fed normal feed. Guar gum
increases the healing rate.
Varicose Veins - Swollen veins susceptible to swelling and
distortion. Inadequate fiber in our diet is an important cause of
varicose veins.
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Other problems that are helped by high-fiber diets: acne and other
skin conditions, Crohn's disease, food intolerance, menstruation
problems (the women with light periods, free of pain, are found to
consume significantly more fiber), ovarian cancer, pancreatic
cancer, and triglycerides.